Business Wire

Star Therapeutics Announces $200 Million Private Financing to Advance Pipeline of Best-in-Disease Therapies

Business Wire

Financing will support Star's next phase of growth, including advancement of current preclinical programs into the clinic and continued pipeline expansion

Financing follows Incyte's July 2026 acquisition of Star subsidiary Vega Therapeutics for up to $2 billion and builds on the Star team's track record of creating and advancing innovative therapies

Financing co-led by OrbiMed and Janus Henderson Investors, with participation from other leading healthcare investors

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., October 23, 2026--Star Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of life-changing therapies for diseases with significant unmet need, today announced a $200 million private financing. The financing follows the July 2026 acquisition of Star subsidiary Vega Therapeutics and was co-led by OrbiMed and Janus Henderson Investors, with participation from Agent Capital, Catalio Capital Management, Cormorant Asset Management, New Leaf Venture Partners, NYBC Ventures, RA Capital Management, Redmile, Sofinnova Investments, Soleus Capital, and a leading sovereign wealth fund. Proceeds from the private financing will support Star's next-generation pipeline of potential best-in-disease therapies, advancing its current preclinical programs into the clinic and expanding its pipeline with additional programs.

"Our mission is to develop best-in-disease therapies at scale for the millions of patients with diseases of significant unmet need," said Adam Rosenthal, Ph.D., founder and chief executive officer of Star Therapeutics. "This financing marks the next phase for Star, building on our team's track record of discovering and developing novel medicines. With an experienced team, a growing pipeline and the support of a top-tier investor base, we are well positioned to advance our current programs into the clinic and continue to add new, highly innovative programs to our pipeline in order to meaningfully improve patient outcomes."

Across multiple companies, members of the Star team have invented four first-in-class therapies that are now in Phase 3 development or commercialized. The team has contributed to four successful acquisitions, including Vega Therapeutics, DICE Therapeutics, True North Therapeutics and iPierian. In July 2026, Incyte completed the acquisition of Star's wholly owned subsidiary Vega Therapeutics in a transaction valued at up to $2 billion, which included Star's lead program latarcibart (VGA039), a novel monoclonal antibody in Phase 3 development for von Willebrand disease. Additionally, in September 2026, Star's spinout company Electra Therapeutics became a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: ETRA).